TY - JOUR PY - 2009// TI - Demonstration of disturbed activity of orbitofrontal pyramidal neurons in depressed patients by the AgNOR staining method JO - Journal of affective disorders A1 - Gos, Tomasz A1 - Krell, Dieter A1 - Bielau, Hendrik A1 - Steiner, Johann A1 - Mawrin, Christian A1 - Trübner, Kurt A1 - Brisch, Ralf A1 - Bernstein, Hans-Gert A1 - Jankowski, Zbigniew A1 - Bogerts, Bernhard SP - 131 EP - 138 VL - 118 IS - 1-3 N2 - BACKGROUND: The aim to find the morphological biomarker of disturbed activity of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in depression was approached by the karyometric analysis of pyramidal neurons. METHODS: The study was performed on paraffin-embedded brains from 19 depressed patients from both major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD) diagnostic groups, including 9 suicides, and 24 matched controls. The karyometric parameters of medial OFC layer III and V pyramidal neurons bilaterally were evaluated by argyrophilic nucleolar organiser region (AgNOR) silver staining method. RESULTS: The enlarged nuclear area was found in layer V pyramidal neurons in the right OFC in non-suicides compared to suicides and controls, which was most likely the effect of neuroleptics. The intra-group comparisons between the hemispheres suggest the disturbed orbitofrontal lateralisation in depressed patients (predominantly in suicides) with moderate distinctness of the MDD and the BD diagnostic groups. LIMITATIONS: A major limitation of this study is a relatively small number of cases. A further limitation is given by the lack of data on drug exposure across the whole lifespan. CONCLUSION: The results suggest disturbed activity of OFC pyramidal neurons in depression, distinct in suicide and the diagnostic groups of mood disorders. The non-suicidal patients seem to benefit from neuroleptics, which most likely increase the activity of the subpopulation of OFC pyramidal neurons.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0165-0327 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2009.02.012 ID - ref1 ER -